Rangefinder play/looseness

[lightwriter]

I purchased an R-D1 from another RFF'er back in November that had a slight vertical misalignment. I reviewed the procedures and pictures posted here to successfully align it. I got the patch aligned really well but now have a different problem. The rangefinder has some play or looseness in it. In other words, when I rotate the focus ring on my lens and switch direction of rotation, the focus patch moves only after I have turned the ring some amount in the new direction. I can get some relatively consistent focusing so long as I am always turning the focus ring in a particular direction while focusing. If I "pass" the focus point, I cannot simply "come back" until the image is is focus. Instead I have to go back past the focus point and then turn the focus ring, again in the predetermined direction, until focus is acheived. I thought I could live with it at first. Then my 1 yr old nephew came to visit. So here I am trying to photograph a moving subject, which is not normally much of a problem, except that I can only track him in one direction. As you can imagine, this is very annoying. Anyone else have this problem? Any ideas before I open'er up to see what's the matter? I suspect that there is a bushing of some sort in the linkage that may be worn/damaged. Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[pfogle]

lightwriter, can you clarify? Did the looseness (I guess it's what's known as backlash) only happen after you fixed the vertical alignment? I'm wondering if it's something you did, or a previously existing problem?

 

[sf]

yikes. I have the problem with a Konica C35 I bought recently. I expected the camera to be sketchy, though, and have no issue with that. But with the RD-1, given its massive cost. . . obviously that is a serious problem.

Man, these things sure don't seem to be all that great (in terms of quality) given the flow of negative commentary on RFF about them.

 

[lightwriter]

Correct, it is backlash. I believe that it did start after I adjusted the RF as I did not notice it before. It's there with my Leica 90mm and Voigt 35mm. I too had the out of square RF patch as well as the intersecting plane RF patch where the image only lines up on a section of the RF patch at any given time. Both of these I fixed by "tweaking" the RF mechanism. I am afraid that this may have led to the problem that I am experiencing now.

 

[ian_watts]

I had 'backlash' with my RD-1 new from the box. I assumed that they all had a certain amount of sloppiness in this regard and got into a habit of not fiddling with the focus.

 

[lightwriter]

Shutterflower, I agree. Funny thing is that despite all the negative feedback, we still love them. They are great cameras if you can get one that is defect free. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not being objective. If I just love the idea of a digital rangefinder so much that I am willing to put up with ridiculous QC issues. But then again, I have some great shots that I would have otherwise not been able to capture. It reminds me of one of my old vehicles. Each one had it's own quirk. Would not start when it was too cold, or too hot, burned a quart of oil with every tank, windshield wipers only worked on high, you had to rev the engine when braking to keep the motor from stalling, had a pair of vise grips to roll down the window..etc...etc Despite all of that, it was a great car. Love is truly blind. It might be time to re-evaluate.